Report of a paring knife on Edgartown School bus prompts swift action

Edgartown School and police officials reacted quickly last Thursday morning to a report that a child on a school bus was in possession of a knife. No students were threatened or harmed.

The fifth grade student who brought the knife on board the school bus faces disciplinary action by the school, according to Officer David Rossi, who is the school’s police resource officer.

Thursday morning a child told an Edgartown School bus driver that another student had a knife. “The school bus driver did everything right,” Officer Rossi said. “He stopped the bus, and asked for the knife, then called [transportation manager] Jimmy Flynn, who called Anne Fligor, the assistant principal.”

Officer Rossi and Ms. Fligor met the bus when it arrived. Officer Rossi said video from the bus surveillance camera confirmed there was no confrontation between the student with the knife and any other student.

“A fifth-grade boy had a paring knife with no handle, about three inches long,” Officer Rossi said in a phone conversation with The Times on Friday. “It wasn’t sharp. He tried to cut a bus seat with it. Nobody was threatened or assaulted. The kid just did something stupid; there was no need for further police involvement.”

“The incident was handled effectively and efficiently, with the school police resource officer’s involvement,” Edgartown School Principal John Stevens said in a phone conversation Tuesday.

Mr. Stevens declined to provide any further details about the incident or the school’s response. He said any parents who have questions or concerns should contact him.